As I sit editing photos in the stone irish cottage in Moycullen, I hear squawks coming from the chicken coop followed by the squawk of my son. Through the muffle of the walls and windows, I can hear the stress in his voice. I quickly dress and run outside to find Kate with tears in her eyes and Peter running in circles trying to chase a family of young chickens back into the cage. Jimmy, the owner of the home had said one word of warning as he smiled his friendly smile and left the house, "Now, yer don't let the young chickens out, whit-ever you do, ya 'all wish ya hadn't". I now understood what he was saying in clear English. Dear Kate had forgotten to latch the gate and now we had a job to do. A hillside garden shaped in a maze of perennials lay beyond the big coop. The chickens were acting…like chickens. When Peter would dodge at them left, they would shoot back to the right stirring up chaos and clucking. The kids would dive at them in vain as I tried also in vain to protect the delicate perennials all around. The last thing I was going to do was lose my deposit over a bunch of lost chickens. I thought to just let them be and wander back into the coop on their own which would have probably been a brilliant idea. Rather, the adventure awaited and the three of us readied ourselves like the crochunter; we were ready to wrangle. Now chickens aren't highly unusual in Middlefield, where we come from. This however, would be our first foray into chicken stewardship even if it was only for a week. Peter had assumed ownership and after practice at being a Templar night only two days before, he felt the need to protect. One dive after another, we came up empty handed. They are fast little buggers. Knees dirtied we begin to strategize. We had come to realize that the little chicks just followed the mamma hen. The three of us flanked the mama, trying to give her no hole out, keeping her pointed towards the coop. We inched forward making no abrupt movements. After thirty minutes she stepped back into her coop looking even more relieved than us as her little ones followed suit. Kate having learned her lesson, slapped the door shut. We all sat down in front of the coop and cracked up laughing as the kids noted that this was the best part of the trip so far. The little cottage would bring us much joy in our first 2 days here. The kids would spend a good part of the day playing in the coop. I would take out a bicycle and slowly examine the countryside stopping to say hello to some horses. They would eat hand-fed daises and then line up for more. We would eat hundreds of fresh peas and then send of their skins down the stream in little races. The first to the rapids would be the grand winner, any that make it past that would just be lucky. The stream is about 12 feet wide and circles the property and has been a contestant source of entertainment. The fish jump freely throughout. Across the stream, a large expanse of land with a giant hill exactly as you imagine an Irish hill to look like, spreads as far as the eye can see. Just past sunset last night, we sat eating dinner, enjoying fresh peas and cabbage from the garden. An expletive runs out of my mouth when I see what looks like a herd of wild horses come pounding into the open field just across us. Instinctually, I run for my camera realizing their is no light, but not caring. Reality sinks in that this is just a show that we must hold inside our memories, not flash photography allowed. The horses linger for an hour. Two foals prance and jump while a larger male rears on it's hind legs showing who's boss. We gaze in wonder at how beautiful it is. It is surreal as the moon comes up and we watch until the horses become shadows in the landscape. This is all part of a busy day that we visited Galway, but that's another story for another day.
2 Comments
daniela
8/18/2011 09:04:16 pm
I can just imagine all of you running after those chickens! I think a book is in order from your blog entries. Ireland is so beautiful. Thankyou for sharing your trip with me.
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8/19/2011 01:20:27 pm
Hi Jen..Love it, love it, love it. You and the kids seem to be extracting all the best of Ireland...Mother Nature at her best! Can only hope the kids remember their trip and want to come back for more...and I'm sure they will, eventually.
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